Never Assume Upgrading Nintendo Should be Like Getting A New Phone

The title to this post has been in the draft folder since Wednesday of last week.  I have passionately wished for the time to voice (quite loudly) a few shortcomings in the digital world.  I consider myself to quite conservative when it comes to purchasing new technology.  I tend to say oooh and ahh like the rest of the world when some new tech-toy greets the world market.  I do not camp outside of stores to be the first person to own something white with an '' i' in the front of it.  I am also not chomping at the bit to go and purchase a new television so I can don dorky glasses and have things jump out at me.  Nevertheless, I do know way too much about the plugs on the back of my televisions.  I also realize that not being able to navigate some of these toys will be detrimental to my child.  We live in an age where everything is on the Internet, and to NOT be savvy, leads our peers to rating our intelligence on our pocketbooks, not on actual brains.  Where this philosophy of one must own or one is ignorant mystifies me, and I can only fight the machine so much.  So, here I am, mother of one.  Owner of Nintendo, two short years ago.  Yes, I grew up without any video game in my life.  Did I want one?  Of course.  When opportunity arose, eating was more important.  I digress.

My daughter has faced the computer age stoically, and only school has made her branch out to want to play with anything other than the TV itself.  That said, this year, she went from zero to wanting the whole enchilada.  I've had to take my phone away and remind her we have a land line.  She went from hitting buttons on the Nintendo DS XL to really playing with it, and using some of the features I had no use for like the recorder.  I feel I have to put in this background before I launch my reasoning that lies behind the title of this entry.

I was at a loss to find my child another gift for her birthday other than the record player, and the answer came to me via email from Gamestop.  Oh happy day!  Finally Nintendo decided to make the screen on the 3DS the size of the DS XL!  What this means:  A handheld game larger than my Smart phone, and easy to see.  I knew I just had to wait.  I liked Nintendo for this simple fact:  There are not a bunch of buttons.  I know there are lots of systems out there, but when you have a kid playing with it, the more buttons there are, the harder it is to explain.  You also have to factor in parents that did not grow up with video games.  I will also insert here that we own a Nintendo wii and to my frustration and disappointment, my child has not been enthralled.  Moving on.

Gamestop is nifty in that one can buy and trade their games.  So being a member, I boxed up both my own 3DS and the DSXL, a bunch of accessories and games my daughter has outgrown.  I managed to use member benefits and current sales to purchase two new 3DS XL systems.  I was so excited to have two handheld systems that she could play with me and her friends.  I assumed when I reminded the Gamestop employee that I needed the SD cards from the old systems that putting my DSiware purchased from the eShop in gaming system I would be able to redownload my software.  I assumed it would be like buying a new phone and moving my information from one to the other would be no problem.  I was so wrong.

A little voice inside me said, open the new system and set it up, so my daughter could just hug me and go in her room and play.  I am so glad I listen to the little voice.  Here is where the drama begins. I will continue this in another post.

Use of the word Status feels Applicable

My perception of the word STATUS and how I absorb the cultural delivery occasionally takes my breath away *when I'm paying attention* The brick wall built by our own hands .. that we the people allow social websites to control the few doors windows, vents and fresh air...How?  With a single question to satisfy.  You know it, we all know the MAGIC of:  "What's your Status?"  People subconsciously fall for the misuse of the word Status employed by overpaid marketing weasels.  How you might ask?  The corporate weasels whet America's Ego Obsession by loosening our subconscious to the point of obscenity utilizing ONE WORD... and magically this one word implies how terribly intelligent, important and essential to world function we ALL are.  Status?  Oh Yes, and since we are all egotists, we fall for it and do what they want, talk about ourselves.  What an ingenious way to stroke an ego into an almost Pavlovian response.  Because everyone must know everyone else's status and coveting begins.  From kids to stories to dogs to causes... Duped.

I ask people to ponder this perverse perspective.  I need to desist at the moment, as I'm tired but the implications of marketing and unconscious suggestion is staggering.

Getting back to me (Where did I say I escaped by chewing off a leg?)

I feel the word status fits in the summary of today.  It's about time I admit all the 'gripes and moans' I point out are band-aid descriptions for Depression.  I am writing enough to be the armchair anthropologist again.  I hope to make thing click with this admission, as this is where I choose to express / interpret / digest how to manage my life with another clunky word that is too vague to describe me.

However, the past weeks have been very motivating and positive, and events in the past year threaten the fabric of motivation and positivist potential from becoming kinetic.  I want to NOT use words like COPE, DEAL, GET OVER because I refuse to allow those words to dictate how I should feel. No STATUS. No service. No Ego. BAH!

Anyway, my STATUS:  I am so tired (but I still fell for it).  Physically and emotionally.. These feelings of tired are so welcome because they feel healthy... and I have struggled to find peace of mind to feel tired.

How did I do this today?  I entered my daughter's wormhole ... where time stops as I hung a mountain of clothes ... I emerged triumphantly hours later dazed that her room was clean...

I also visited a friend and we talked about things to make the eyebrows wriggle. I came home and the idea of "*knitting a sweater" lost some of its pissed off luster.

So my STATUS:  I think I am putting me first, which amazingly leads to smiling and happiness. I'm case in point.  Me first.  Ego stroked.

I also believe this blog and research is filling a draft I forgot my psyche had.

Sweet Dreams Everyone.  May they be squishy ones. *giggle*

STATUS:  Let go my Ego...

*Knit a Sweater Phase:  Urban Dictionary